Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
Contract for new Galileo atomic clock tech signed
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
Credit: NASA Two proposals for missions to observe X-ray and far-infrared wavelengths of light from space were selected by NASA for additional review, the agency announced Thursday. Each proposal team will receive $5 million to conduct a 12-month mission concept study. After detailed evaluation of those studies, NASA expects to select one concept in 2026 to proceed with construction, for a launch in 2032.
The resulting mission will become the first in a new class of NASA astrophysics missions within the agency’s longstanding Explorers Program. The new mission class, Probe Explorers, will fill a gap between flagship and smaller-scale missions in NASA’s exploration of the secrets of the universe.
“NASA’s Explorers Program brings out some of the most creative ideas for missions that help us reveal the unknown about our universe. Establishing this new line of missions – the largest our Astrophysics program has ever competed – has taken that creativity to new heights,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Both of the selected concepts could enable ground-breaking science responsive to the top astrophysics priorities of the decade, develop key technologies for future flagship missions, and offer opportunities for the entire community to use the new observatory, for the benefit of all.”
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s 2020 Decadal Survey, Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s, recommended NASA establish this new mission class, with the first mission observing either X-ray or far-infrared wavelengths of light. Mission costs for the new Probe Explorers are capped at $1 billion each, not including the cost of the rocket, launch services, or any contributions.
NASA evaluated Probe Explorers proposals based on their scientific merit in alignment with the Decadal Survey’s recommendations, feasibility of development plans, and use of technologies that could support the development of future large missions.
The selected proposals are:
Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite
This mission would be an X-ray imaging observatory with a large, flat field-of-view and high spatial resolution. It would study the seeds of supermassive black holes; investigate the process of stellar feedback, which influences how galaxies evolve; and help determine the power sources of a variety of explosive phenomena in the cosmos. The observatory would build on the successes of previous X-ray observatories, capturing new capabilities for X-ray imaging and imaging spectroscopy. Principal investigator: Christopher Reynolds, University of Maryland, College Park Project management: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland Probe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics
This observatory would be a 5.9-foot (1.8-meter) telescope studying far-infrared wavelengths, helping bridge the gap between existing infrared observatories, such as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and radio telescopes. By studying radiant energy that only emerges in the far-infrared, the mission would address questions about the origins and growth of planets, supermassive black holes, stars, and cosmic dust. Principal investigator: Jason Glenn, NASA Goddard Project management: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California The Explorers Program is the oldest continuous NASA program designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space using principal investigator-led space science investigations relevant to the Science Mission Directorate’s astrophysics and heliophysics programs. Since the Explorer 1 launch in 1958, which discovered Earth’s radiation belts, the Explorers Program has launched more than 90 missions, including the Uhuru and Cosmic Background Explorer missions that led to Nobel prizes for their investigators.
The Explorers Program is managed by NASA Goddard for the Science Mission Directorate, which conducts a wide variety of research and scientific exploration programs for Earth studies, space weather, the solar system and universe.
For more information about the Explorers Program, visit:
https://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov
-end-
Alise Fisher
Headquarters, Washington
202-617-4977
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Oct 03, 2024 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Science Mission Directorate Astrophysics Division Astrophysics Explorers Program View the full article
-
By NASA
Learn Home New NASA eClips VALUE Bundles… For Kids and Students Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 2 min read
New NASA eClips VALUE Bundles for Learners with Varied Needs
The NASA Science Activation program’s NASA eClips project, led by the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), aims to increase Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM) literacy and inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists by providing effective web-based, standards-aligned, in-school and out-of-school learning and teaching resources through the lens of NASA.
In Summer 2024, NASA eClips developed six new Varied & Accessible Learning Resources for Universal Engagement (VALUE) Bundles. These VALUE Bundles are a thematic and curated set of NASA eClips and partner resources, organized in a user-friendly dashboard, providing a thematic, cohesive, and engaging set of materials to meet learners’ varied needs for their:
Engagement – The WHY of Learning; Representation – The WHAT of Learning; and Action & Expression – The HOW of Learning. These new NASA eClips VALUE Bundles empower learners to explore topics of their choice through multiple modalities and focus on six science themes:
Earth’s Moon Explore Planets Forces of Flight Magnets Planets Plants Educators and learners of all ages are invited to explore these brand new VALUE bundles: https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/resources/valuebundle. Learn more about NASA eClips and access its varied resources developed for use by K-12 teachers and informal educators at https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov.
NASA eClips is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AB91A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn
New VALUE Bundles were developed for learners of varied needs on six science themes.
Share
Details
Last Updated Oct 02, 2024 Editor NASA Science Editorial Team Related Terms
For Kids and Students Grades 5 – 8 for Educators Grades 9-12 for Educators Grades K – 4 for Educators Science Activation Explore More
9 min read Launch Your Creativity with These Space Crafts!
Article
5 days ago
3 min read NASA Science Activation Program Wins Prestigious Award
Article
1 week ago
2 min read NASA Summer Camp Inspires Future Climate Leaders
Article
4 weeks ago
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
James Webb Space Telescope
Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the…
Perseverance Rover
This rover and its aerial sidekick were assigned to study the geology of Mars and seek signs of ancient microbial…
Parker Solar Probe
On a mission to “touch the Sun,” NASA’s Parker Solar Probe became the first spacecraft to fly through the corona…
Juno
NASA’s Juno spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter in 2016, the first explorer to peer below the planet’s dense clouds to…
View the full article
-
By NASA
Earth (ESD)Earth Home Explore Climate Change Science in Action Multimedia Data For Researchers 4 min read
Via NASA Plane, Scientists Find New Gamma-ray Emission in Storm Clouds
Tropical thunderstorm with lightning, near the airport of Santa Marta, Colombia. Credit: Oscar van der Velde There’s more to thunderclouds than rain and lightning. Along with visible light emissions, thunderclouds can produce intense bursts of gamma rays, the most energetic form of light, that last for millionths of a second. The clouds can also glow steadily with gamma rays for seconds to minutes at a time.
Researchers using NASA airborne platforms have now found a new kind of gamma-ray emission that’s shorter in duration than the steady glows and longer than the microsecond bursts. They’re calling it a flickering gamma-ray flash. The discovery fills in a missing link in scientists’ understanding of thundercloud radiation and provides new insights into the mechanisms that produce lightning. The insights, in turn, could lead to more accurate lightning risk estimates for people, aircraft, and spacecraft.
Researchers from the University of Bergen in Norway led the study in collaboration with scientists from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and multiple universities in the U.S., Mexico, Colombia, and Europe. The findings were described in a pair of papers in Nature, published Oct. 2.
The international research team made their discovery while flying a battery of detectors aboard a NASA ER-2 research aircraft. In July 2023, the ER-2 set out on a series of 10 flights from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. The plane flew figure-eight flight patterns a few miles above tropical thunderclouds in the Caribbean and Central America, providing unprecedented views of cloud activity.
The scientific payload was developed for the Airborne Lightning Observatory for Fly’s Eye Geostationary Lightning Mapper Simulator and Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (ALOFT) campaign. Instrumentation in the payload included weather radars along with multiple sensors for measuring gamma rays, lightning flashes, and microwave emissions from clouds.
NASA’s high-flying ER-2 airplane carries instrumentation in this artist’s impression of the ALOFT mission to record gamma rays (colored purple for illustration) from thunderclouds.Credit: NASA/ALOFT team The researchers had hoped ALOFT instruments would observe fast radiation bursts known as terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs). The flashes, first discovered in 1992 by NASA’s Compton Gamma Ray Observatory spacecraft, accompany some lightning strikes and last only millionths of a second. Despite their high intensity and their association with visible lightning, few TGFs have been spotted during previous aircraft-based studies.
“I went to a meeting just before the ALOFT campaign,” said principal investigator Nikolai Østgaard, a space physicist with the University of Bergen. “And they asked me: ‘How many TGFs are you going to see?’ I said: ‘Either we’ll see zero, or we’ll see a lot.’ And then we happened to see 130.”
However, the flickering gamma-ray flashes were a complete surprise.
“They’re almost impossible to detect from space,” said co-principal investigator Martino Marisaldi, who is also a University of Bergen space physicist. “But when you are flying at 20 kilometers [12.5 miles] high, you’re so close that you will see them.” The research team found more than 25 of these new flashes, each lasting between 50 to 200 milliseconds.
The abundance of fast bursts and the discovery of intermediate-duration flashes could be among the most important thundercloud discoveries in a decade or more, said University of New Hampshire physicist Joseph Dwyer, who was not involved in the research. “They’re telling us something about how thunderstorms work, which is really important because thunderstorms produce lightning that hurts and kills a lot of people.”
More broadly, Dwyer said he is excited about the prospects of advancing the field of meteorology. “I think everyone assumes that we figured out lightning a long time ago, but it’s an overlooked area … we don’t understand what’s going on inside those clouds right over our heads.” The discovery of flickering gamma-ray flashes may provide crucial clues scientists need to understand thundercloud dynamics, he said.
Turning to aircraft-based instrumentation rather than satellites ensured a lot of bang for research bucks, said the study’s project scientist, Timothy Lang of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
“If we had gotten one flash, we would have been ecstatic — and we got well over 100,” he said. This research could lead to a significant advance in our understanding of thunderstorms and radiation from thunderstorms. “It shows that if you have the right problem and you’re willing to take a little bit of risk, you can have a huge payoff.”
By James Riordon
NASA’s Earth Science News Team
Share
Details
Last Updated Oct 02, 2024 EditorJenny MarderContactJames RiordonLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
Earth Gamma Rays Goddard Space Flight Center View the full article
-
By European Space Agency
This September saw the completion of a critical milestone for the construction of ESA's new deep space communication antenna in New Norcia, Australia: the lifting of the 122-tonne reflector dish.
View the full article
-
By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
President and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation Jose Antonio Tijerino, left, and NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, sign a Space Act Agreement between the HHF and NASA to collaborate and expand STEM opportunities for Latino K-12 and university students and reduce barriers to agency activities and opportunities, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, at the NASA Headquarters Mary W. Jackson Building in Washington.NASA/Bill Ingalls During an event at NASA Headquarters in Washington Monday, the agency and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation signed a Space Act Agreement to collaborate and expand STEM opportunities for Latino K-12 and university students and reduce barriers to agency activities and opportunities.
The signing is the latest in a series of efforts by NASA to expand access to STEM education for underrepresented communities across the nation.
“Through this agreement, NASA and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation are not just formalizing a partnership; we are igniting a commitment to innovation that will shape the future of our endeavors,” said Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “This initiative will help build a diverse future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce, showcasing our commitment to making America’s space agency accessible to all.”
As part of the agreement, the Hispanic Heritage Foundation will incorporate NASA STEM education resources, content, and themes into its Latinos on the Fast Track (LOFT) program, which aims to connect, inspire, and empower young Latino professionals and college students on their career journey. In turn, NASA will provide access to aerospace STEM education professionals to support technical reviews for the development of new curriculum materials and facilitate information sharing with NASA experts and mentors who will lead presentations and workshops to expose students to STEM careers.
“The Hispanic Heritage Foundation is thrilled to partner with NASA to expand STEM opportunities and expose Latinos to career pathways in aerospace and space travel,” said Antonio Tijerino, president and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation. “This innovative partnership with NASA will allow us to expand our mission even beyond our planet!”
While initial efforts will be led by NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, the umbrella agreement also allows for further collaboration and partnership in the future. Specifically, the agency and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation will look to support certain areas of NASA’s Equity Action Plan.
NASA works to explore the secrets of the universe and solve the world’s most complex problems, which requires creating space for all people to participate in and learn from its work in space. Providing access to opportunities where young minds can be curious and see themselves potentially at NASA and beyond is how the agency will continue to inspire the next generation of STEM innovators.
For more information on how NASA inspires students to pursue STEM visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources
Share
Details
Last Updated Sep 30, 2024 Related Terms
General Explore More
3 min read NASA’s BioSentinel Studies Solar Radiation as Earth Watches Aurora
Article 4 days ago 9 min read SARP West 2024 Oceans Group
Article 5 days ago 10 min read SARP West 2024 Whole Air Sampling (WAS) Group
Article 5 days ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.